The power of the mind has always been a massive interest. So I did my own research on the interesting benefit running can have on the mind.
What Made Me Start Running
Long-distance running was a mainstay during my school years. We always dreaded this day with our PE teacher. He was very old school and would bark at us the whole way around the field. Lucky for me I happened to be quite good. This led to my selection to go on many cross country events. I knew nothing of how fast I should go or when to conserve energy. So I tended to just save my energy and have a Mo Farah style late dash or if you’re a bit old the famous Kelly Holmes last-ditch sprint.
My running days were a distant past as I got older. That was until the year of the virus. A less active lifestyle started putting on the pounds. Acid Reflux especially was starting to affect my health. I was concerned so I went for a blood check-up. I was a bit apprehensive in all honesty but when the news came back. To my surprise, I had cholesterol levels that were doing me no favours. My love of sugar and my new inactive lifestyle were to blame.
With a hint of fear behind me, I got to work to change this cholesterol reading. Then a yearning came from nowhere to run.
A book called Born To Run by Christopher McDougall which shows the interesting benefits running has on the mind of the Tarahumara Native people of Mexico. Was a favourite of mine over the summer. This gave extra incentive to dust off my running shoes and go running.
With this in mind, I bought a Fitbit and the next day I started to run.
What’s The Article Goal
Within this article, I will explain my health and physical improvements I have developed through running. Digging deeper I will discuss the positive benefits running has had on my mind. Through new research, I will back up how running can benefit all of us to improve our own lives.
The Health Benefits Of Running
The whole reason I started to run was to lower my cholesterol. To my amassment, some other health benefits quickly improved as well
- Lowers resting heart rate
- Lowers Blood pressure
- Increases a strong immune system
- Diabetes levels
- Cardiovascular fitness
With so many health benefits contributing to my overall health I wondered why I didn’t take up running sooner.
New Research On Running
Research on the running benefits has been vast. Studies have proved that chemicals released into the body can help improve people with mental health problems such as depression to feel an improved state. Also, epidemiological and clinical research demonstrates that exercise reduces the risk for mood disorders, degree of symptoms, and incidence of relapse.
New research has dug even deeper to prove this research correct. They did so by discovering how molecules change when doing aerobic exercise. They announced it as the hope molecule. It showed the positive effects exercise such as running can have on our mental health.
Participants found this had success in treating depression. As well, aerobic exercise of moderate intensity, done 3 times weekly, for a minimum of 9 weeks. Helped treat depression with a high success rate.
This is amazing news for anyone suffering mentally from mood disorders like depression for example. I’ve even seen in myself the positive effects mentally that running 3 to 5 times a week can have.
Let’s say that running isn’t possible for you it has been proven any aerobic exercises can offer the same conclusion.
The Interesting Benefit Running Can Have On The Mind
After running for 4 weeks and being my very own test dummy. The mental benefits I gained from running were surprisingly quick. It showed how natural this is for humans. The reward I achieved was the release of endorphins, dopamine plus a whole range of other chemicals being released to aid me.
After a month of running, I became more outgoing again, confident and happy. Anxiety levels reduced dramatically and I gained a new sense of control that I hadn’t felt in a while. Crazy to think every night before bed I looked forward to getting up run the next day. The addictive high of running was real.
This just goes to show when humans go back to basics. We find out what mother nature intended our body’s to do.
We find a part of us that’s real and happy. Humans are not meant to stay indoors all day working and watching TV. Nor are we built to hooked to a phones 24/7. As much as these things are useful and entertaining we should treat these as a bonus in our life.
The main focus should be what makes our mind and body thrive. Socialising with people in human contact, spending time in nature and exercising in the form of running for sure is one of them.
For anyone suffering from anxiety or depression. Getting outside and start running can be a huge benefit. Alongside the release of chemicals in your mind to boost your mood to positive levels.
The first step is the hardest but once you get going the reward is worth it.
The Round-Up
That, for now, concludes this article – The interesting benefit running can have on the mind.
I hope it shows what you can achieve for your own health by picking up aerobic exercise, especially running.
We are built to run.
So let’s use it to help build our body’s and minds to its peak performance. By doing this we can gain the full benefits of what we can achieve as humans.
Especially within the mind and if we can lower the cases of depression and anxiety from controlling our lives. Then that’s an amazing achievement for everyone. The data proves this to be the case. Now it’s down to you to test it out.
